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4 teams with 15+ bosses 

In modern football, changing managers has become more common than ever. Such is the pressure at the top level, clubs rarely hesitate in relieving a boss of their duties, in the hope of getting that ‘new manager bounce’. After all, it’s a lot easier to switch coaches than get rid of an entire squad of players. The Premier League has become one of the hardest places to stay in a job for managers, with several losing their roles each season. This week, Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag became the first casualty, after United sacked him following two and half years in the job.

Long serving managers have become very sparse in the English top-flight. Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola (eight years) and Brentford’s Thomas Frank (six years) are the only current bosses who have been in their job for longer than five years. The longest serving managers of all time in the Premier League are Sir Alex Ferguson who spent 21 years as Man United boss while they were in the Premier League, and Arsène Wenger who was at Arsenal for 22 years. But which clubs show the most and the least loyalty to managers?

Here at Transfermarkt, we have compiled a list of the amount of permanent managers that have been in place at every team that has spent 12 or more seasons in the Premier League, and it makes for a fascinating read. Only managers in charge while the team were in the English top-flight count, and teams with the same amount of managers are separated by the least total seasons spent in the Premier League since the league’s inception in the 1992/93 season.

Which teams have had the most permanent managers?

Surprisingly, the team that have had the most permanent managers in the Premier League are Southampton. The Saints have had as many as 21 full-time bosses, despite only spending 25 seasons in the English top-flight. Current boss Russell Martin may be quaking in his boots looking at this given that his team are yet to win a Premier League games this term. Two teams share second place, each having had 18 permanent managers in 33 Premier League seasons. The first is less surprising in Chelsea who have gained a reputation in recent decades for chopping and changing the man in the dugout. Tottenham is perhaps more of a shock, also having 18 managers, including four in the last five years.

Newcastle are fourth with 15 managers in 30 seasons in the Premier League, and are followed in fifth by Aston Villa who have had 14 bosses in 30 seasons. Everton are sixth having also had 14 managers, but have been ever-presents, playing in each of the 33 seasons of the Premier League. West Brom take seventh with a remarkable record of having 13 managers in just 13 seasons in the English top-flight since 1992. Two other teams have had 13 managers in Leicester (in 18 seasons) and West Ham (in 29 seasons). Below, we have isolated just the ‘Big six’ teams and the number of permanent Premier League managers they have employed.

Which teams give their managers the most time?

At the other end of the scale, it’s now time to take a look at the teams who have given the most time to managers in the Premier League era. As illustrated in the graphic below, when we look at the Premier League seasons per manager, Arsenal top the standings, on average, hiring a new manager every 6.60 seasons. The Gunners have had just five permanent Premier League bosses in George Graham, Bruce Rioch, Wenger, Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta.

The next team on this list is Man United, who have averaged a manager every 5.50 seasons in the Premier League era. This is largely due to the 21 years served by legendary manager Ferguson, with the Red Devils having another five permanent bosses since the Scot’s retirement in 2013. It looks as though current Sporting boss Rúben Amorim will soon become United’s seventh Premier League manager. Liverpool are third, averaging a new permanent boss every 3.67 seasons, whilst Man City are fourth with a new boss, on average, every 2.55 seasons. Middlesbrough complete the top five with a new manager every 2.50 seasons.

At the other end of the scale, West Brom are bottom, averaging a new manager every season they have been in the Premier League – 13 bosses in 13 campaigns. There’s no doubt changing managers can lead to success – Chelsea have been the prime example, with 14 permanent bosses in the last 20 years, and 17 major trophies in that same timeframe. However, there can also be value in giving a manager time to prove his worth and develop his team, showcased perhaps best in recent years by Arsenal’s progression under Arteta after a torrid start under the Spaniard. 

 

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Potential Man Utd star?  

Few things can spin the rumour mill into action quite like a manager moving to one of the Premier League’s big clubs and there’s little doubt that Rúben Amorim’s seemingly imminent move to Manchester United in the coming days has led to a number of Sporting’s top stars also being tipped with a move to the Old Trafford club. But few seem to be garnering as much interest as English winger Marcus Edwards. 

Multiple reports have linked the 25-year-old talent with Man Utd, with very little regard for the fact that Amorim’s predecessor, Erik Ten Hag, more or less dug his own grave in Manchester after convincing the club to spend untold fortunes on players from his former club Ajax. As such, a move to the Red Devils is likely to remain little more than speculation for Edwards for the time being, but that doesn’t mean a move to the Premier League is entirely off the cards. 

The young Englishman made the move to Portuguese football in 2019 after departing Tottenham’s youth teams on a free transfer to join Vitória Guimarães and has gone from strength to strength since then, where he is now worth €18 million and remains subject of constant media speculation linking him to a number of English clubs. After departing his native country, the young forward hit the ground running in the Portuguese top flight, with no less than seven goals and seven assists in just 26 games. And by the end of his first season at the club, Edwards’ market value had shot up from €1.25m to an impressive €13m.

Edwards’ next season and a half at Vitória took a slight dip, with just 10 goals and six assists in 51 league games, but it was upon his €7.5m move to Sporting in January 2022 that Liga Portugal fans really saw the former Spurs youth player hit his stride in a team that could offer him far more attacking chances per game. As such, Edwards picked up no less than three goals and three assists in his 12 league games in the second half of the 2021/22 season. Only to then improve on that with a remarkable 12 goals and 14 assists in all competitions for Sporting in the following season, where the Lisbon club reached the final of the Portuguese Cup and the quarter-finals of the Europa League. 

The 23/24 campaign would be a special one for Sporting, as Amorim led the club to only their second league title in 20 years. And while Edwards struggled with injuries and match fitness – as well as a red card suspension in the dying weeks of the season – the English winger undoubtedly played his part, with nine goals and assists in 26 league appearances. Most of which coming in the first half of the season, when Sporting lost just two of their opening 15 league games. However, the player’s own personal highlight at Sporting to date may have instead came in an earlier Champions League campaign, when Sporting picked up an impressive 1-1 draw in North London against Tottenham. Which just so happened to feature a fantastic performance from Edwards, in which he scored the all-important goal for his side against the very club that deemed him surplus to requirement. 

Such delights from scoring in front of English crowds certainly hasn’t been lost on Edwards and while he seems perfectly content in Lisbon, the young winger has rarely hidden his ambitions of returning to the Premier League to test his talents.  When asked by the Evening Standard in 2022 if his move to Sporting had turned his career around, Edwards said: “Definitely. Everyone has a different journey. For me it worked out, going over there and it clicked straight away. It has been good for me, but I would love to play in England [again] and be near my family.” He added: “I have grown up in a lot of ways, I’m 23 and last time I was at Tottenham, I was only 17, 18. I was only a baby, so I have grown up. I was just a kid, you know what kids are like.”

Whether Edwards’ role leads him back to England or even to Old Trafford alongside Amorim remains to be seen, but few could doubt that he’s risen to the occasion of proving himself in Portugal. And with constant speculation surrounding his future and a number of Premier League sides reportedly interested in signing him, it seems like only a matter of time before the winger gets to prove himself in the English top-flight. 

 

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Records with & without Fernández analysed 

Following what appeared externally to be somewhat of a tumultuous summer at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have started life under new manager Enzo Maresca very steadily. Ever since Todd Boehly bought the club in 2022, the club has, without beating around the bush, been a chaotic mess. A 12th-place Premier League finish, a sixth-place finish, four different permanent managers and €1.33 billion spent fails to represent a very stable two years. However, under their new Italian boss, things on the pitch have finally began to show signs of consistency, and hints of progress are at long last rearing their head. Chelsea are fifth in the Premier League, one point behind Arsenal, and have only lost to Manchester City and Liverpool so far this season. But Maresca still faces one huge €121 million Argentinian headache.

Enzo Fernández became the Premier League’s most expensive player when Chelsea paid Benfica €121m for the midfielder on deadline day in January 2023. At the time, Fernández had played just 29 first-team games in Europe, and had only been signed by Benfica six months earlier for €44.25m. However, he was fresh off the back of starring for Argentina in their 2022 World Cup triumph in Qatar. The midfielder has failed to get anywhere near justifying that price-tag thus far in a Chelsea shirt, and doubts still remain over what is his best position. Right now it seems to be on the bench. 

Fernández started Chelsea’s opening game of the season against Manchester City as captain – a decision which came under some scrutiny at the time due to Fernández being filmed chanting racist chants while away with Argentina over the summer, which he later apologised for. However, in the last two Premier League matches, Roméo Lavia, who spent the majority of last season injured, has started alongside Moisés Caicedo in midfield. Already in just two matches, the Belgian seems to have formed a more balanced partnership with the Ecuadorian, raising the question of what do Chelsea do with Fernández?

One of Fernández’s biggest issues since joining Chelsea has been that nobody seems to quite know what his best position is. According to Transfermarkt data, he has played 30 games as a defensive midfielder, 30 games as a central midfielder and ten games as an attacking midfielder for the Blues. The Argentine seems to have some deficiencies playing in all three midfield roles. He lacks the numbers when it comes to goals and assists to play as a no.10 – just zero goals and one assist in ten games in that position. He seems to lacks the defensive nouse to play as a lone no.6, and arguably lacks the engine required to play as a no.8 in the Premier League.

There’s no doubt Fernández has superb technical ability, but whether he fits into this Maresca Chelsea team is a whole different question. Following the Blues’ 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace, Maresca said, “I think it’s very difficult in the way we play to find a midfielder that can attack like an attacking midfielder and defend like a holding midfielder. At the moment, Enzo is the only one. When we have the ball, he is playing like an attacking midfielder, and is dropping next to Moi, when we don’t have the ball to help us and give us defensive balance. He is doing very good with us and the idea is to continue with that.” But that continuation did not come to fruition, and it’s hard to see how Cole Palmer could get the space he requires in the no.10 role, with Fernández, Lavia and Caicedo all in the team.

As the graphic above illustrates, not only does Fernández have a terrible record when starting for Chelsea, but things seem to significantly improve for the Blues without the Argentine in the original XI. Since he joined the club, he has won just 35% of the games he has started in all competitions. Without him in the side in that same time period, Chelsea have won 81% of their matches. The goals scored rises from 1.60 goals scored per game with Fernández to 2.48 without him, while the goals conceded falls from 1.55 goals conceded per game with Fernández to just 1.00 without him. All the metrics seem to point towards Chelsea being a more cohesive unit without their record signing in the starting XI.

Following his move to Stamford Bridge, and the small matter of winning the World Cup, Fernández’s market value rose to €85m in March 2023. That has since dropped back down to €75m, with that figure likely to drop further in the next Premier League market value update if he fails to get back in the Chelsea team. It highlights the reality, that, if the Blues were wanting to sell him on, they wouldn’t get anywhere near the astronomical fee they paid for the Argentine. However, Chelsea extended his contract back in April so that it now runs until 2032, suggesting moving him on is not at the forefront of the club’s thinking right now.

Chelsea have had a very positive start to the season and that shouldn’t be completely overshadowed, but when you have a player like Fernández losing value and reputation, struggling to get in the side, it bodes a big problem. It highlights that the club’s recent model of spending big money and handing out huge contracts can seriously backfire. Fernández has some fantastic abilities, and will no doubt get more opportunities to prove his worth in Chelsea’s midfield, but right now the Premier League’s record signing is just warming the bench, and his future looks uncertain. 

 

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Next England No.9? 

It was a thrilling weekend of Premier League football with Brentford’s 4-3 win over Ipswich Town the most dramatic encounter. Brentford battled back from 0-2 down to lead 3-2 but the Tractor Boys thought they’d secured a point with Liam Delap’s late goal before Bryan Mbeumo landed a late suckerpunch. 

Ipswich remain without a win after nine games on their return to the Premier League but Delap has been a shining light for Kieran McKenna’s men. Ipswich paid Manchester City an initial €17.85 million to sign the talented striker and he’s delivered with five goals in nine league games. Delap was tipped for big things when emerging through City’s prestigious academy and could they live to regret cashing in like with Cole Palmer? Despite playing for a struggling side, Delap is the joint-top U21 goal scorer across the top five leagues and he’s been touted as a potential future England No.9. 

No U21 player has scored more top five league goals than Liam Delap

Delap was surprisingly dropped for the trip to Brentford and it was the first Premier League game that he’s failed to start since moving to Ipswich. But the 21-year-old made an excellent impact off the bench with a well-taken goal and he came within inches of a late equaliser with a sublime effort from outside the box that hit the post. As the graphic below illustrates, Delap ranks joint top for U21 players with the most goals in the top five leagues with Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal and Chelsea loanee Andrey Santos.

The English striker is amongst esteemed company on the top ten list with German wonderkids Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz scoring four times in the Bundesliga. Jhon Durán’s incredible impact from the bench this season is well documented but Delap has outscored the Aston Villa striker.    

Could Liam Delap become England’s future No.9?

Delap is a regular in the England U21 squad but he’s been tipped for a senior call-up for the November internationals. Lee Carsley will take charge of the double-header against Ireland and Greece before Thomas Tuchel takes the reins and the interim boss has already handed debuts to a number of his former U21 players. Harry Kane is England’s undisputed first-choice striker but he will turn 33 just after the next World Cup and there’s a relative dearth of young England strikers coming through the ranks. 

Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney were the two other natural strikers in the England squad for Euro 2024. Watkins remains second choice to Kane but he’s also 28, while Toney will likely no longer be considered after moving to Saudi Arabia. At just 21, Delap represents the future and his all-round game and physicality has been extremely impressive at Ipswich. After several indifferent loan spells, Delap is developing at an impressive rate and there’s similarities between Kane – who was famously a late developer. 

Is Liam Delap the next Cole Palmer for Manchester City? 

“He is a killer, a typical British striker, an incredible finisher. He has to improve when he drops and his first touch. He has a special quality. He is a different type of striker.” Pep Guardiola was effusive in praise for Delap in 2022 but he was never truly afforded a real chance in Man City’s first team. Delap was prolific for City at youth level but only played 170 minutes for the first-team, scoring one goal. 

It’s interesting, however, that City included a buy-back option when selling Delap this summer and that offers them future protection. While Guardiola has famously played without a striker regularly across his managerial career, Erling Haaland is the only natural first-team ready No.9 on City’s books. Internally, City will regret the decision to allow Palmer to join Chelsea while former academy stars Morgan Rogers and Jamie Gittens are delivering on their potential at Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund. Delap is proving that he possesses the required quality to play in the Premier League with Tottenham reportedly registering an interest. Whether City will activate their buy-back option in the future remains to be seen but Delap has enjoyed an excellent start and Ipswich and he’s been one of the best young strikers in Europe.

 

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Second Spanish winner 

Rodri has been crowned the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner at a lavish ceremony in France tonight. It was widely anticipated that Vinicius Jr would be awarded the prestigious accolade but it emerged on Monday afternoon that the Real Madrid star had missed out. The award handed out by magazine France football is measured on performances across the 2023/24 season and Rodri enjoyed a spectacular campaign for club and country. 

The 28-year-old was instrumental as Manchester City won their fifth consecutive Premier League trophy and during Spain’s impressive Euro 2024 triumph. Rodri becomes just the second Spanish player in history to win the Ballon d’Or and the first Manchester City player. Since the start of 2023, Rodri has only lost four games in which he’s started and the defensive midfielder has picked up eight trophies during that time period. His importance to Man City and Spain can’t be overstated and he’s a deserved winner of the Ballon d’Or. When it comes to individual awards, attacking players are traditionally favoured but Rodri deserves recognition for his exceptional season. 

Why Rodri deserved to win the Ballon d’Or?

It’s difficult to produce a legitimate argument that any player consistently outperformed Rodri across the 2023/24 season. The Spaniard seldom has a bad game and he’s comfortably the best player in the world in his position. Rodri enjoys incredible influence on games due to his calmness, tactical intelligence and technical excellence. His ability to control games is unrivalled in modern football and he’s now regarded in the same esteem as his revered Spanish predecessors in Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Xabi Alonso. Rodri is the epitome of a team player without ego and he rarely indulges the limelight but he accepted the acclaim after beating England after being asked about the prospect of winning the Ballon d’Or in July.

“Spanish football deserves a Ballon d’Or winner,” he said. “I’m going to be honest, I would like for a Spaniard to win it, I don’t care who. It would be great. I’ve heard that Daniel Carvajal also deserves it. From an individual standpoint, I’m very proud of what I am doing and the recognition I’m getting.” If the award was based of performances alone – not winning the Champions League or reputations – then Rodri was rightly the leading candidate.

The rise of Rodri

Rodri’s standout performances at Euro 2024 earned him a €10m in our market value update after the tournament to his current valuation of €130m . The defensive midfielder became the most valuable Spanish player in history – before Lamine Yamal earned an overtook him in October – and he’s still the most valuable player in his position after moving ahead of Declan Rice. Rodri is also the most valuable player to be born in 1996 and by some distance – €60m more than second ranked James Maddison. Rodri’s market value has soared since making his debut for Villareal and it’s risen exponentially across the last year. In June 2023, Rodri was valued at €90m but that’s increased by €40m since then. 

The Ballon d’Or candidates 

Vinicius Junior was the strong favourite to win the famous award presented by French magazine French Football. The Brazilian winger was instrumental as Real Madrid won their second Champions League title in three years, scoring in the final against Borussia Dortmund. Real Madrid also won La Liga with Vinicius Jr finishing the season with 33 goal contributions in 39 games for the Spanish giants. The 24-year-old became the joint-most valuable player in the October, alongside Erling Haaland, at €180 million. A disappointing Copa America campaign with Brazil has potentially counted against Vinicius and he finished second in the voting with teammate Jude Bellingham in third.

The 21-year-old enjoyed a remarkable start to his Madrid career after moving from Borussia Dortmund for €103m. Bellingham acclimatised brilliantly and went on an incredible run of scoring goals and providing assists. The Englishman has also developed a reputation for stepping up on the big occasions after two match winning goals against Barcelona and assists in the Champions League and Euro 2024 finals. Despite finishing with 36 goal contributions for Madrid, Bellingham’s performance levels dropped in 2024 and he wasn’t at his best during Euro 2024.

 

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Done Deal 28.10.2024 – 11:23
| source: Transfermarkt |
Reading Time: 4 mins

 

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20 years of market values 

Barcelona started the season as the defending Champions League winners and defended its title in LaLiga, won the Club World Cup and created a new market value benchmark. For the first time, a club had three of the five most valuable players in its ranks. As part of 20 years of market values we look back to the most valuable players of every season all the way back to 2004. 

In 2009/10, 22-year-old Lionel Messi not only left behind Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (24) but also broke the market value record of €80m. That record was previously held by his former Barca teammate Ronaldinho, who had been among the world’s elite since the creation of the market values in 2004. By 2009/10, Ronaldinho was at AC Milan, and his market value had collapsed to €28.5m. 

It was the first season in which Messi didn’t share first place. Ronaldo was second with a market value of €75m. The playmakers of their respective teams completed the top five. Xavi (€65m) and Andrés Iniesta (€60m) from Barca and Kaká (€60m) from Real. The two Spanish clubs dominated the top five of the most valuable players in 2009/10. 

The most valuable XI of the 2009/10 season also highlighted that Manchester United was still in the heyday of the Sir Alex Ferguson era. Although Chelsea won the title under Carlo Ancelotti, United dominated the market values of the Premier League. Among the big winners was 24-year-old Wayne Rooney (€53m). The English striker scored 26 goals in the Premier League, and only Didier Drogba was more successful in England. The most valuable player in England was Arsenal’s Cesc Fàbregas (€55m).

 

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20 years of market values 

In 2008/09, Pep Guardiola won the Champions League for the first time with Barcelona. In the final against Manchester United, the two most valuable players on the planet faced one another: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. As part of 20 years of market values on Transfermarkt, we look back to the most valuable players of every season starting with 2004. This time, we focus on two stars who would dominate the game over the next two decades. 

With market values of €60m each, Messi and Ronaldo jumped ahead of Ronaldinho in the ranking. The Brazilian had dominated the list over the previous four years. But the Argentine and the Portuguese played fantastic seasons each. Messi scored 38 goals and 19 assists in 51 games for Barça, winning the World Footballer of the Year and Ballon d’Or in 2009. Ronaldo scored 26 goals and 12 assists in 53 games and won the English championship. Then, Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in the summer for a record €94m.

Behind the top duo, who have faced each other 36 times until now, Milan’s Kaká (€55m), aside from one other player, broke through the €50m barrier. Today, 120 players have a market value of at least €50m. The top five that season was complemented by Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard (€46m) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (€45m), who in 2009/10 would become Messi’s teammate. 

The most valuable starting XI of the 2008/09 season was put together with players from eight different teams. The two Champions League finalists had two players each with Messi and Xavi (€44m) from Barca and Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand (€34m) from Man United. Liverpool, who finished second in the Premier League in 2008/09 also had two players in Gerrard and Fernando Torres (€43m). Torres together with Xavi and Sergio Ramos (€32m), won the European Championship in the summer of 2008.

 

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Four 17 year olds have featured 

Already just eight games into the new Premier League season, plenty of drama has unfolded. No one expected Nottingham Forest to beat unbeaten Liverpool at Anfield for the first time in 55 years. Nobody also probably expected Arne Slot to win 11 of his first 12 games in charge of the Reds which has seen them top the Premier League table, ahead of going to Arsenal this Sunday. Wolves, Southampton, Ipswich and Crystal Palace all remain without a win, whilst Manchester United are as low as 12th. 

Many of the classic stars in their peak years such as Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah and Bukayo Saka have started the season strong, but which players, at both the start, and the conclusion of their careers have been getting a run out? Here at Transfermarkt, we have calculated the ten youngest and the ten oldest players to feature in the Premier League so far this season and it makes for some interesting reading.

The ten youngest players in the Premier League this season

After Tottenham’s 1-0 win against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League, midfielder James Maddison compared Spurs’ teenage sensation Mikey Moore to none other than Brazilian superstar Neymar. “From minute 45 to 65 I thought we had Neymar on the left wing. He was brilliant. Just demanding the ball and fearless.” Maddison said. Moore has been on the club’s radar for a while now after impressing in youth teams for both Tottenham and England. He made his Premier League debut last season against Manchester City on the run-in, but his appearance against Brentford from the bench this term, when he was just 17 years and 1 month of age, has him as the youngest player in the division so far this term.

Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri set a Premier League record back in September 2022, when he came on against Brentford for the Gunners, aged 15 years and 5 months old and became the youngest player in the division’s history. Already this season, two years on, he is still the second youngest player to get on the pitch in the Premier League. The Englishmen came on in the North London derby victory against Tottenham, aged 17 years and five months old. The third youngest player to feature this term has been Everton’s Harrison Armstrong who came on in the Toffees 4-0 defeat to Spurs aged 17 years and seven months. 

Coming in fourth is another Arsenal youngster in Miles Lewis-Skelly, who came on in the Gunners 2-2 draw against Man City aged 17 years and 11 months old – earlier in that match, he became the first player to be booked before making his Premier League debut, as he was shown a yellow from the bench for running and handing a note to keeper David Raya. The fifth youngest goes to Southampton’s Samuel Amo-Ameyaw, who came on in the Saints opening game of the season aged 18 years and just 30 days. Other notable youngsters to feature in the top 10 include Tyler Dibling, who has played all eight games for Southampton and impressed, and was only 18 years and six months old for the season curtain raiser, and new Tottenham signing Archie Gray takes sixth, being just 18 years and five months old in Spurs’ first game of the campaign.

The ten oldest players in the Premier League this season

The oldest player to feature in the Premier League this season is West Ham’s Lukasz Fabianski who was 39 years and four months old when he came on in the Hammers 3-1 defeat to Man City. He is followed by Everton full-back Ashley Young who has featured six times in the league this season, including in last weekend’s 2-0 win at Ipswich, where he was 39 years and two months old. Third on the list is Brighton’s James Milner who was 38 years and seven months old when he played against Arsenal at the end of August. 

Jamie Vardy is fourth, being 37 years and 9 months old in last weekend’s 3-2 win against Southampton. The Leicester veteran has three goals in eight games this season. Two more Everton players feature in the top 10, in Seamus Coleman (7th at 35 years and 10 months) and Idrissa Gueye (9th at 35 years). Manchester United’s Jonny Evans is fifth on the list, having been 36 years and nine months old in United’s 3-0 win at Southampton.

 

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Jose level with Robson 

José Mourinho was the star attraction as the legendary Portuguese boss faced his former side Manchester United with Fenerbahce on Thursday night. The 61-year-old spoke of his affection for United ahead of the Europa League clash but his unrelentingly winning mentality was evident in Istanbul as he was sent off for remonstrating with the fourth official in the 1-1 draw.

Mourinho famously made his name by winning the competition with Porto in 2024 before spectacularly leading the Portuguese side to Champions League glory in the following season. With two Europa League titles to his name, Mourinho is one of the most successful coaches in the competition’s history. Only two managers have won the competition more times than the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager – Unai Emery and Giovanni Trapattoni. The UEFA Cup was reformatted to the Europa League in 2009 but which managers have collected the most points since the competition’s inauguration for the 1971/72 season? Let’s find out! 

Unsurprisingly, Emery has won the most points (213) in Europa League history and the 52-year-old has won the competition more than any other manager, winning it three times in a row with Sevilla between 2014 and 2016 and once with Villareal in 2021 – Emery also reached the final with Arsenal in 2019. As the graphic above illustrates, Trapattoni ranks second after collecting 180 points across 98 games with eight different clubs. The Italian won the competition three times, twice with Juventus and Inter Milan in 1991.

Jorge Jesus has collected the most points in the competition without ever winning it with the Portuguese boss runner up twice with Benfica – Otto Rehhagel is the only other manager in the top ten list not to have won it. After drawing with Man United, Mourinho moved onto 124 points in 63 games in the competition which brought him level with his mentor Sir Bobby Robson. Mourinho began his journey into coaching as the iconic Englishman’s interpreter at Porto before becoming his assistant and following him to Barcelona. Also on Thursday night, Ernesto Valverde moved ahead of his countryman Rafael Benítez in the all-time standings after Atletico Bilbao beat Slavia Prague.